This invention was made with government support under Grant No. 91HL07 awarded by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, giving the federal government certain rights in the invention. In addition, the invention described herein was made in the performance of work under a NASA contract and is subject to the provisions of Section 305 of the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, Public Law 85-568 (72 Stat. 435; 42 U.S.C. 2457).
A. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the medical diagnosis and treatment of arterial disease by means of temperature differential sensing, and particularly, infrared-sensing with devices such as temperature probes, cameras, and catheters. In particular, the invention provides catheters and methods of using catheters to diagnose arterial diseases detectable by thermal discrepancies in the arterial wall.
B. Description of the Related Art